Preparing for what? The administration of Youth Allowance activity agreements
Sally Jope
Brotherhood of St Laurence
Contact Email:   sjopebsl.org.au

Youth Allowance policy recognises that job search is not always the most appropriate activity for unemployed young people and further education, training and skill building can assist them into employment. Therefore, more flexible activity testing has been introduced to enable combinations of and movement between study and work. Preparing for Work Agreements (PFWA) are prepared in negotiation with the unemployed young person prior to payment of Youth Allowance. They are to include activities the job seeker is required to undertake to remain eligible for income support and what Centrelink will offer the job seeker to improve their chances of employment.

This study investigated the administration of YA PFWAs by Centrelink and the extent to which they had been tailored to meet the individual needs of young job seekers (18-20 years). In-depth interviews were conducted with YA job seekers, with youth workers and with Centrelink officers.

We found young people generally did not understand the purpose of PFWAs and did not know they could negotiate the activities included within them. Their agreements mainly contained job search activities few ‘capacity-building’ activities. We concluded that PFWAs might motivate young people to look for work but do not contribute to increased capacity to get work or develop work-related skills.

This study was conducted by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and funded jointly with Centrelink Youth and Student Community Segment.

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